National Security Adviser (NSA) Hermogenes Esperon said the Philippines will push through with the procurement of Russian arms, adding that the United States did not make the items available to the country.
Esperon made the statement despite the United States’s policy to sanction countries purchasing military equipment from Russia.
Esperon, in a text message, confirmed that an order was made for some items.
“There’s an order placed for some items. It’s a go since the US did not make it available to us,” Esperon said.
There were reports that the Philippines faces possible US sanctions iover the country’s reported purchase of a P400-million 750 RPG-7B rocket-propelled grenade launchers from Russia’s state-owned Rosoroboronexport.
According to Esperon, other countries also bought defense hardware from Rosoroboronexport, yet they were not sanctioned.
“By the way, India has bought up to 200 fighter jets from Russia. Yet India was not sanctioned,” he said. He earlier said that Malaysia and Indonesia also procured their fighter jets from Russia
According to Esperon, it is only Rosoboronexport that is the authorized exporter for the Russian Federation.
US sanctions were imposed since last year against any country trading with Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors. This is to punish Russia for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, support for Syria’s government, and alleged meddling in the 2016 US elections.
While committing to study the matter early this week, Malacañang is wondering how can US laws affect the country’s procurement of military hardware from Russia. (Argyll Geducos)
